![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Others are solid enough to withstand repairs, something many ships constantly need as silk mast lines break and centuries-old glue gives way. Some models are so delicate that touching them would cause them to disintegrate. "They would carve these things and cover them up with the next floor with no expectation that they would ever be seen again," Walker said. Most model ships since the 17th century have adhered to the scale of 1 inch to 48 inches, meaning that a railing that would have stood 4 feet tall on the original ship would be re-created in a railing 1 inch tall on the model.Ĭurators were astounded last year when they sent a surgical arthroscope, a small camera, into the hulls of some of the models and found engraved furniture, benches and water pumps in places that can't be seen from the outside. The ships are so perfectly re-created that the number of coils on each line is accurate, as are the facial expressions on tiny gold statues that would have stood a couple of feet tall on the original ship. "I was inside this case last week," Walker said in a near whisper, pointing to a 300-year-old ship, "and basically had my throat in my mouth the whole time." ![]()
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